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<div id="readInner" class=""><h1>Immelt to Succeed Volcker as Obama Economic Adviser</h1><div id="readability-content"><div id="readability-page-1" class="page"><div class=""><img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2011/01/22/us/22obama/22obama-articleLarge.jpg" width="600" height="330" alt="" border="0" class=" blockImage"><p>Drew Angerer/The New York Times</p><p class="caption">Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York greeted President Obama as he arrived in Albany on Friday. </p></div><div class=""><nyt_text>

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SCHENECTADY, N.Y. — <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about Barack Obama." class="meta-per">President Obama</a> is traveling here on Friday to name <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/i/jeffrey_r_immelt/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about Jeffrey R. Immelt." class="meta-per">Jeffrey R. Immelt</a> to run his outside panel of economic advisers, succeeding <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/v/paul_a_volcker/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about Paul A. Volcker." class="meta-per">Paul A. Volcker</a>, the former <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/f/federal_reserve_system/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More articles about the Federal Reserve System." class="meta-org">Federal Reserve</a> chairman, who is stepping down, the White House said. Mr. Immelt is chairman and chief executive of <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/general_electric_company/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More information about General Electric Co" class="meta-org">General Electric</a>, the giant conglomerate with deep roots in this somewhat battered industrial city near Albany.        </p> 
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Mr. Immelt will be chairman of the new Council on Jobs and Competitiveness that Mr. Obama intends to create by executive order. In a statement issued shortly after midnight, Mr. Obama said he wanted the council to “focus its work on finding new ways to encourage the private sector to hire and invest in American competitiveness.”        </p><p>
The council will be a reconfigured version of the board Mr. Volcker led, the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. That body, created by Mr. Obama when he took office in the thick of the worst economic crisis since <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/g/great_depression_1930s/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="Recent and archival news about the Great Depression." class="meta-classifier">the Great Depression</a>, is set to expire on Feb. 6.        </p><p>
Asked about his new role during a conference call on G.E.’s earnings, Mr. Immelt said the advisory position would give him a chance to contribute to issues in the broader economy, with a focus on competitiveness and jobs. “I am honored to serve,” he said.        </p><p>
Mr. Immelt said that his commitment to G.E. would not change. “This is my passion,” he said of G.E. “I am committed. I am a hard worker. I am focused on the company.”        </p><p>
The changes in the panel signal what the White House describes as “a new phase of our recovery,” a shift from crisis to job creation. They come as Mr. Obama has been working to repair his frayed relations with the business community. Mr. Immelt, who was a member of the original board, has often been by the president’s side in recent months, as Mr. Obama has sought to spotlight his efforts on behalf of American companies overseas.        </p><p>
He was with Mr. Obama when the president traveled to India in November. During a stop in Mumbai, the White House announced a string of business deals between India and American companies, including a $750 million order from India’s Reliance Power for steam turbines manufactured by General Electric.        </p><p>
And Mr. Immelt was with the president again this week during the visit of President <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/hu_jintao/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about Hu Jintao." class="meta-per">Hu Jintao</a> of China, taking part in a meeting Mr. Obama convened with business leaders and Mr. Hu and attending the state dinner in Mr. Hu’s honor on Wednesday.        </p><p>
“Jeff Immelt’s experience at G.E. and his understanding of the vital role the private sector plays in creating jobs and making America competitive makes him up to the challenge of leading this new council,” Mr. Obama said.        </p><p>
Schenectady, where the president will make the formal announcement of his appointment, is the birthplace of General Electric and remains home to G.E.’s largest energy division. The steam turbines bought by Reliance Power will be built there. The company reported early on Friday that it had earned $4.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010 and $11.6 billion for the full year, exceeding Wall Street analysts’ expectations.        </p><p>
Mr. Immelt mentioned his impending appointment in an opinion article published in The Washington Post on Friday. “The president and I are committed to a candid and full dialogue among business, labor and government to help ensure that the United States has the most competitive and innovative economy in the world,” he said in the article. “My hope is that the council will be a sounding board for ideas and a catalyst for action on jobs and competitiveness. It will include small and large businesses, labor, economists and government.”        </p><p>
It was well known in Washington that Mr. Volcker, 83, had sometimes been frustrated in his role as an outside adviser to the president. In the statement, Mr. Obama thanked Mr. Volcker for his service and pledged to continue to call on the former Fed chairman for advice, saying, “He will always be a member of my team.”        </p><p>
During Mr. Volcker’s time as head of the previous panel, the former Fed chairman met periodically with Mr. Obama and had something of a lukewarm relationship with the administration, which mostly obtained its economic guidance from <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/timothy_f_geithner/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about Timothy F. Geithner." class="meta-per">Timothy F. Geithner</a>, the <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/t/treasury_department/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More articles about the U.S. Treasury Department." class="meta-org">Treasury</a> secretary, and <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/lawrence_h_summers/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about Lawrence H. Summers." class="meta-per">Lawrence H. Summers</a>, director of the National Economic Council.        </p><p>
Mr. Volcker, however, became well known for crafting a measure that restricts the ability of banks whose deposits are federally insured from trading for their own proprietary accounts. Mr. Obama proposed what became known as the <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/v/volcker_rule/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="More articles about the Volcker Rule." class="meta-classifier">Volcker rule</a> in January 2010 as part of a broader <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/c/credit_crisis/financial_regulatory_reform/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="More articles about financial regulatory reform." class="meta-classifier">financial regulatory reform</a> effort, though the measure has been fiercely opposed by some banks and Wall Street firms.        </p><p>
Mr. Obama’s statement called Mr. Volcker “one of the wisest economic minds” in the country, and someone who has “fought for policies that help American families and strengthen our economy.”        </p><p>
Mr. Immelt’s appointment comes as Mr. Obama has increasingly turned to people with close ties to the business sector for counsel in the wake of the setbacks of the midterm elections, something highlighted by the appointment of <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/d/william_m_daley/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about William M. Daley." class="meta-per">William M. Daley</a>, the former Commerce secretary and senior executive at <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/morgan_j_p_chase_and_company/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More information about JPMorgan Chase &amp; Company" class="meta-org">JPMorgan Chase</a>, as the president’s chief of staff.        </p><nyt_author_id>  <div class="authorIdentification"><p>Christine Hauser contributed reporting from New York.</p></div>
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